Vietnam, Japan ink MoU to enhance medical cooperation

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health signed a cooperation memorandum of understanding (MoU) with medical universities in Japan’s Kansai region and the Japan Association for International Health on February 12.

Accordingly, they will strengthen their affiliation in developing human resources by sharing experience; exchanging students, lecturers and researchers; and building joint research programmes.

They will also work together to prepare for an aging society; prevent and control communicable and non-communicable diseases; introduce advanced medical equipment; apply information technology; and bridge the two countries’ hospitals, institutes, and universities.

At the signing ceremony in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Health Le Quang Cuong said Japan is one of Vietnam’s largest bilateral official development assistance (ODA) providers with a number of ODA-funded, effectively implemented healthcare projects. The two ministries of health also signed a cooperation MoU during Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to Japan in 2014.

He expressed his hope that with the newly formalised document, bilateral medical cooperation will become more practical and effective.

Meanwhile, a representative of Kansai’s medical universities described the signing as an important step towards expanding the collaboration between the two sides in the future.

VNA